President Donald Trump ripped Olympian Hunter Hess on Sunday morning, calling the freestyle skier a “real loser.”
Hess was among several American athletes in Italy who expressed ambivalence about representing the country under Trump.
Other athletes explicitly criticized ICE’s operations in Minnesota and elsewhere, but the 27-year-old did not mention Trump or any of his policies. Hess said last week that he had “mixed emotions” about representing the United States in international competition.
“I think it brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t,” Hess said.
“If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.,” he said. “So yeah, I just kind of want to do it like for my friends and my family and the people that supported me getting here.”
Hess is set to compete in the men’s freeski halfpipe on Feb. 19.
The comments from Hess and other skiers drew widespread condemnation from conservative politicians before Trump weighed in.
“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site Sunday morning. “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, has been in Italy for the Olympics and was booed at the opening ceremony in Milan. NBC denied editing the audio from the incident.
